A scanning probe microscope uses a microcantilever called a cantilever and a probe with a size of several nanometers is formed at the end thereof.
The scanning probe microscope scans the surface of a sample by the probe to measure up to a size of 0.01 nanometer, one several tenths of the atomic diameter, has tens of millions of magnification while an optical microscope has a maximum of thousands of magnification and an electron microscope has hundreds of thousands of magnification, and may directly measure an atomic structure using high resolution.
Further, the scanning probe microscope may measure characteristics of the surface of the sample such as viscoelasticity and hardness, has been used as a core device of the nano industry, such as manufacturing an object of nanometers by directly manipulating the sample using a probe with a size of several nanometers, and may determine the surface shape and electric or magnetic properties of the sample at the nano-level resolution.
The scanning probe microscope uses an operational principle in which the cantilever is bent by the atomic force when the probe at the end of the cantilever is closet to the sample, and uses a photo diode which reflects a laser beam to the cantilever and measures an angle of the laser beam reflected from the upper surface of the cantilever in order to measure the cantilever which is bent up and down.
The operational principle of the scanning probe microscope has already been widely disclosed and the detailed description is omitted, and the core part of the scanning probe microscope is a cantilever made of silicon. However, the probe formed at the end of the cantilever may determine the resolution or the use of the scanning probe microscope and a scanning probe microscope having a probe formed on a microcantilever is disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2005-0025702.
When describing Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2005-0025702, a tip 215 is provided by patterning a silicon wafer 200. Accordingly, in order to provide the tip 215 in various shapes, a mask having a desired shape needs to be provided, and a complicated process of replacing the mask is required.